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Pit Spitters say 'bigger, better' season coming in 2020

Players from the Traverse City Pit Spitters celebrate winning the 2019 Northwoods League championship on August 16th, in Traverse City.
Traverse City Pit Spitters
Players from the Traverse City Pit Spitters celebrate winning the 2019 Northwoods League championship on August 16th, in Traverse City.

It’s going to be hard to top the season that the Traverse City Pit Spitters had in 2019. Besides winning the Northwoods League title, the team set a new league record with an 18-game winning streak. Looking ahead, general manager Mickey Graham thinks 2020 will be even better.

 

Despite low attendence numbers for a good portion of the season, ticket sales ramped up near the end of the year and into the playoffs. After averaging just over 1,300 fans per game when we checked in with the team in July, the Pit Spitters had an average of almost 1,700 fans showing up by the end of the regular season. Then, in three home playoff games, the team averaged over 3,200 fans a game. 

Mickey Graham, the Pit Spitters general manager, says he thinks those numbers are something they can build off of for next year.

"It's definitely good momentum going into the offseason," he says.

Team Manager Josh Rebandt is already getting calls from college players who want to play next year. Besides the product on the field, Graham says they're also going to be looking over notes from the 2019 season to create an even better fan experience.

"We want to do some crazy, wild stuff out there," he says, "to get the casual fan that wants to come out and just have a good time."

Graham says they'll also be looking for ways to get fans in and out of the ballpark more quickly and adding more handicapped seats.

Dan Wanschura is the Host and Executive Producer of Points North.